Apparatus and method for managing a telephone number in a terminal

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and a method manage a telephone number in a terminal, which can separately manage telephone numbers, a call to each of which an attempt to originate has been made and to each of which the call has failed to be connected, and then enable a convenient attempt to re-originate a call to the telephone number. The apparatus includes: a memory including a temporary list which stores a non-connecting telephone number, to which a call has been originated and has failed to be connected; and a controller for performing a control operation so as to store a particular telephone number in the temporary list as the non-connecting telephone number, when an attempt to originate a call to the particular telephone number is made and the call fails to be connected to the particular telephone number.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), priority to andthe benefit of the earlier filing date of Korean Patent ApplicationSerial No. 10-2012-0151308, which was filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Dec. 21, 2012, the entire contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus and a methodfor managing a telephone number in a terminal, and more particularly, toan apparatus and a method for managing a telephone number in a terminalwhich can separately manage a telephone number, a call to which anattempt to originate has been made and to which the call has failed tobe connected, and then enable a convenient attempt to re-originate acall to the telephone number.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the prior art, there are numerous reasons why a call is not connectedafter a terminal originates the call, which can be classified into fivegeneral reasons as follows:

1) when the other party is absent (a missed call),

2) when a call origination fails due to network problems, an error ofthe originating terminal or the like (call origination failure),

3) when another urgent matter comes up and a telephone call cannot bemade right now (call hold),

4) when a call to a telephone number is originated and is immediatelycompleted in order to temporarily store the telephone number (thetemporary storage of the telephone number), and

5) when the reason why a telephone call is to be made disappears(intentional completion).

In the case of the other reasons except for the fifth reason, there is asignificantly high probability of attempting to re-originate a call to arelevant telephone number within a predetermined time period. However, aterminal in the prior art does not provide a function of separatelydisplaying or storing a telephone number, to which a call is originatedand fails to be connected. Accordingly, a terminal in the prior art hasan inconvenience in that a list of all call records must be searched forthe specific telephone number to call again.

In particular, in the case of the fourth reason, a temporary telephonenumber for temporarily performing a call can also be stored in atelephone directory in order to temporarily store the temporarytelephone number. However, in this case, a terminal in the prior art mayoperate in association with an application (for example, KAKAO TALK, amobile messenger application for smartphones commercially available fromKAKAO INC.) which provides services based on a telephone directory, insuch a manner that a user does not intend to use the terminal.Subsequently, a terminal in the prior art has difficulty in searchingfor these temporary telephone numbers and arranging them.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide anapparatus and a method for managing a telephone number in a terminal,which can separately manage a telephone number, a call to which anattempt to originate has been made and to which the call has failed tobe connected, and then enable a convenient attempt to re-originate acall to the telephone number.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and amethod for managing a telephone number in a terminal, which can notify auser that the user is to attempt to originate a call to a telephonenumber, a call to which an attempt to originate has been made and towhich the call has failed to be connected.

Further, still another aspect of the present invention is to provide anapparatus and a method for managing a telephone number in a terminal,which can separately manage a telephone number, the temporary storage ofwhich is selected, and then enable a convenient attempt to originate acall to the telephone number.

In order to achieve the above objects, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention, an apparatus for managing a telephone number in aterminal is provided. The apparatus includes: a memory including atemporary list which stores a non-connecting telephone number, a call towhich an attempt to originate has been made and to which the call hasfailed to be connected; and a controller for performing a controloperation so as to store a particular telephone number in the temporarylist as the non-connecting telephone number, when an attempt tooriginate a call to the particular telephone number is made and the callfails to be connected to the particular telephone number.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method formanaging a telephone number in a terminal is provided. The methodincludes: attempting to originate a call to a particular telephonenumber; and storing the particular telephone number, to which the callfails to be connected, in a temporary list as a non-connecting telephonenumber, when the attempt to originate the call to the particulartelephone number has been made and the call fails to be connected to theparticular telephone number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminalaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process for storing a particulartelephone number in a temporary list in the terminal according to theexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are a single flowchart showing a process fordisplaying and editing telephone numbers stored in the temporary list inthe terminal according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 4C and FIG. 4D are views illustrating anoperation of displaying and editing a telephone number stored in thetemporary list in the terminal according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a single flowchart showing an operation processfor originating a call to a telephone number stored in the temporarylist in the terminal according to the exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Itshould be noted that in the accompanying drawings, the same elementswill be designated by the same reference numerals as far as possiblealthough they are shown in different drawings. In the followingdescription, a detailed explanation of known related functions andconstructions may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thesubject matter of the present invention. The present invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. In addition,terms described herein, which are defined with reference to thefunctions of the present invention, may be implemented differentlydepending on a user or operator's intention and practice. Therefore, theterms should be understood on the basis of the disclosure throughout thespecification. The principles and features of this invention may beemployed in varied and numerous embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention.

Furthermore, although the drawings represent exemplary embodiments ofthe invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certainfeatures may be exaggerated or omitted in order to more clearlyillustrate and explain the present invention.

Among the terms set forth herein, a terminal refers to any kind ofdevice capable of processing data which is transmitted or received to orfrom any external entity. The terminal may display icons or menus on ascreen to which stored data and various executable functions areassigned or mapped. The terminal may include a computer, a notebook, atablet PC, a mobile device, and the like.

Among the terms set forth herein, a screen refers to a display or otheroutput devices which visually display information to the user, and whichoptionally are capable of receiving and electronically processingtactile inputs from a user using a stylo, a finger of the user, or othertechniques for conveying a user selection from the user to the outputdevices.

Among the terms set forth herein, an icon refers to a graphical elementsuch as a figure or a symbol displayed on the screen of the device suchthat a user can easily select a desired function or data. In particular,each icon has a mapping relation with any function being executable inthe device or with any data stored in the device and is used forprocessing functions or selecting data in the device. When a userselects one of the displayed icons, the device identifies a particularfunction or data associated with the selected icon. Then the deviceexecutes the identified function or displays the identified data.

Among the terms set forth herein, data refers to any kind of informationprocessed by the device, including text and/or images received from anyexternal entities, messages transmitted or received, and informationcreated when a specific function is executed by the device.

Among the terms set forth herein, a non-connecting telephone number is acall to which an attempt to originate has been made and to which thecall has failed to be connected.

Terminals according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventioninclude a portable terminal and a fixed terminal. In this case, portableterminals, which are electronic devices portable so as to be easilycarried, may include a video phone, a mobile phone, a smart phone, anInternational Mobile Telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, aWideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) terminal, a UniversalMobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) terminal, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a DigitalMultimedia Broadcasting (DMB) terminal, an e-book, portable computers(e.g. a laptop, a tablet PC, etc.), a digital camera, etc. In addition,the fixed terminal may be a desktop personal computer or the like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a terminalaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an RF unit 123 performs a wireless communicationfunction of the terminal. The RF unit 123 includes an RF transmitter forupconverting the frequency of a signal to be transmitted and thenamplifying the frequency-upconverted signal, and an RF receiver forlow-noise amplifying a received signal and then downconverting thefrequency of the low-noise amplified signal, etc. A data processor 120includes a transmitter for encoding and modulating a signal to betransmitted, and a receiver for demodulating and decoding a signalreceived by the RF unit 123, etc. In particular, the data processor 120may include a modulator/demodulator (modem) and a coder/decoder (codec).In this case, the codec includes a data codec for processing packet dataand the like, and an audio codec for processing audio signals includingvoice and the like. An audio processor 125 reproduces a received audiosignal, which has been output from the audio codec of the data processor120, and outputs from a speaker the reproduced audio signal as audio, ortransmits an audio signal to be transmitted, which is generated from amicrophone, to the audio codec of the data processor 120.

A key input unit 127 may include keys for inputting numbers and textinformation and function keys for setting various functions, and mayinclude a touch screen known in the art.

A memory 130 may include a program memory and a data memory. The programmemory may store programs for controlling a general operation of theterminal, and programs for performing a control function of storing botha non-connecting telephone number, a call to which an attempt tooriginate has been made and to which the call has failed to beconnected, and a temporary telephone number in a temporary list andmanaging them. In addition, the data memory permanently or temporarilystores data such as settings of the terminal as well as telephonenumbers and contact lists, and temporarily stores data generated whilethe programs are performed.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thememory 130 includes the temporary list which stores a non-connectingtelephone number, a call to which an attempt to originate has been madeand to which the call has failed to be connected, and a temporarytelephone number.

A controller 110 controls an overall operation of the terminal.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when anattempt to originate a call to a particular telephone number is made andthe call fails to be connected to particular the telephone number, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for storing the particulartelephone number in the temporary list as the non-connecting telephonenumber.

Then, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention,when the temporary storage of the particular telephone number isselected, the controller 110 performs a control operation for storingthe particular telephone number in the temporary list as the temporarytelephone number.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for displayingnon-connecting telephone numbers, in which a call to each of which anattempt to originate has been made and to each of which the call hasfailed to be connected, in such a manner as to distinguish thenon-connecting telephone numbers from other telephone numbers, which maybe stored in a latest record list representing an entire call list.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for displaying thenon-connecting telephone number and the temporary telephone number insuch a manner as to distinguish the non-connecting telephone number fromthe temporary telephone number in the temporary list.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when theediting of a particular telephone number in the temporary list isselected, the controller 110 performs a control operation for performingat least one of the addition of a memo into which information on theparticular telephone number is entered, an alarm setting for reportingthe origination of a call to the particular telephone number at aparticular time point, and a schedule setting for reporting theorigination of a call to the particular telephone number at a particulartime point on a particular date.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for displayingnon-connecting call origination details in a standby mode of theterminal. When the non-connecting call origination details are selected,the controller 110 performs a control operation for displaying aparticular telephone number matched to the non-connecting callorigination details in the temporary list. The non-connecting callorigination details may be displayed in a notification bar, in a window,or on a lock screen in the standby mode.

Then, when an attempt to originate a call to the particular telephonenumber, matched to the non-connecting call origination details in thetemporary list, is made and the call fails to be connected to theparticular telephone number, if the number of times of failure of a callconnection to the particular telephone number to which the call fails tobe connected is equal to or less than a predetermined reference numberof times, the controller 110 performs a control operation for displayingthe number of times of failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number in the temporary list, as well as updating thetemporary list to store and display the current number of times of suchfailure in the call connection.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when theattempt to originate the call to the particular telephone number,matched to the non-connecting call origination details in the temporarylist, is made and the call fails to be connected to the particulartelephone number, if the number of times of failure in the callconnection to the particular telephone number is greater than thepredetermined reference number of times, the controller 110 causes theterminal to automatically switch to a message mode.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when theattempt to originate the call to the particular telephone number,matched to the non-connecting call origination details in the temporarylist, is made and the call fails to be connected to the particulartelephone number, if the number of times of failure in a call connectionto the particular telephone number is greater than the predeterminedreference number of times, the controller 110 performs a controloperation for automatically transmitting a message having previously-setcontents to the particular telephone number to notify a user of thenumber of times of failure.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when anattempt to originate a call to the particular telephone number, matchedto the non-connecting call origination details in the temporary list, ismade and the call is successfully connected to the particular telephonenumber, if the particular telephone number is a telephone numberregistered in a telephone directory, the controller 110 performs acontrol operation for deleting the particular telephone number from thetemporary list.

Otherwise, according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, when the attempt to originate the call to the particulartelephone number, matched to the non-connecting call origination detailsin the temporary list, is made and the call is successfully connected tothe particular telephone number, if the particular telephone number isnot a telephone number registered in the telephone directory, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for displaying a selectionmenu which displays the particular telephone number. The controller 110performs a control operation for storing the particular telephone numberin the telephone directory when the storage of the telephone directoryis selected from the selection menu, and performs a control operationfor deleting the particular telephone number from the temporary listwhen a deletion is selected from the selection menu.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 110 performs a control operation for displaying a particulartelephone number, for which a schedule is set on a particular date amongtelephone numbers of the temporary list, in a schedule mode. When theparticular date is selected, the controller 110 performs a controloperation for displaying information on the particular telephone numberassociated with the selected particular date.

In addition, the terminal may include a camera unit 140 which includes acamera sensor for capturing a light signal as image data and convertingthe captured light signal to an analog image signal in the form of anelectrical signal, and a signal processor for converting the analogimage signal, which has been captured by the camera sensor, to digitaldata. In this case, in the exemplary embodiment, the camera sensor is aCharge-Coupled Device (CCD) sensor or a Complementary Metal-OxideSemiconductor (CMOS) sensor, and the signal processor may be implementedby using a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). In addition, the camerasensor and the signal processor may be implemented as one unit, or maybe implemented as separate elements. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera unit140 may also generate a synchronization signal in a manner known in theart, and transmits any of the digital data, the analog image signal, andthe synchronization signal to an image processor 150.

The image processor 150 performs image signal processing (ISP) on thedigital data or the analog image signal, in a manner known in the art,for displaying an image signal, which corresponds to the digital data orthe analog image signal output from the camera unit 140, on the displayunit 160. In this case, the term “ISP” refers to the execution offunctions including a gamma correction, an interpolation, a spatialchange, an image effect, an image scale, Auto White Balance (AWB), AutoExposure (AE), Auto Focus (AF), etc. Accordingly, the image processor150 processes the digital data or the analog image signal, which hasbeen output from the camera unit 140, on a frame-by-frame basis, andoutputs the frame image data in such a manner as to meet thecharacteristics and the size of a screen of the display unit 160. Inaddition, the image processor 150 includes an image codec, andcompresses the frame image data displayed on the display unit 160 usinga predetermined compression method known in the art, or restores thecompressed frame image data to an original frame image data. In thiscase, the image codec may be implemented by using either a JointPhotographic Coding Experts Group (JPEG) codec, a Moving Picture ExpertsGroup-4 (MPEG-4) codec, a Wavelet codec, or the like. In the exemplaryembodiment, the image processor 150 includes an On-Screen Display (OSD)function. The image processor 150 may output on-screen display dataaccording to the size of the screen displayed on the display unit 160under the control of the controller 110.

The display unit 160 displays an image signal, which is output by theimage processor 150, on the screen, and displays user data which isoutput by the controller 110. In this case, the display unit 160 mayemploy or include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and thus may includean LCD controller, a memory capable of storing image data, an LCDdisplay element, etc. When the LCD and/or the key input unit 127 employsa touch screen, the display unit 160 may operate as an input unitcomplementary to or instead of the key input unit 127. In one exemplaryembodiment, the display unit 160 may display keys which are identical tothose of the key input unit 127, while in an alternative embodiment, thekey input unit 127 is included in or connected to the display unit 160to implement a touch screen in a manner known in the art.

When the display unit 160 employs the touch screen and thus is used as atouch screen unit, the touch screen unit includes a Touch Screen Panel(TSP) including multiple sensor panels or sensor elements. The multiplesensor panels or sensor elements may include a capacitive/electrostaticsensor panel capable of recognizing a user's finger touch or proximityof the user's finger to the sensor panel, and an electromagnetic sensorpanel capable of sensing a delicate touch, such as a touch of a stylus.

An operation of managing a particular telephone number stored in atemporary list in the terminal as described above will be described indetail with reference to FIGS. 2-5B.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process for storing a particulartelephone number in a temporary list in the terminal according to theexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 2 together with reference toFIG. 1.

Referring to the FIG. 2, when an attempt to originate a call due to theinput of a call button is selected in step 201, in which a selected orinput telephone number is displayed by the display unit 160 of theterminal, the controller 110 first senses the selection of the attemptto originate a call and then attempts to originate the call to theselected or input telephone number, the call to which the attempt tooriginate is to be made, in step 202. However, when the origination ofthe call is completed in a state where the call is not connected to theselected or input telephone number, the call to which the attempt tooriginate has been made, the controller 110 senses the completion of theorigination of the call, in step 203, and proceeds to step 204. In step204, the controller 110 stores the telephone number, the call to whichthe attempt to originate has been made, in a temporary list of thememory 130, and the method then ends. On the other hand, if in step 203,the controller 110 does not sense the completion of the origination ofthe call, the controller 110 performs a different or relevant functionof the terminal.

In a state where a call is originated and is not connected due toreasons such as the completion of the origination of a call due to anetwork error, the completion of the origination of a call which occursbecause a recipient does not receive the call, and the origination of acall that an originator attempts and immediately completes, thecontroller 110 receives a discrimination value representing each case,in which the origination of a call is completed, from a base station.Accordingly, as in step 203, the controller 110 may determine thecompletion of the origination of the call in a state where the call isnot connected to the telephone number, the call to which the attempt tooriginate has been made.

Otherwise, referring back to step 202, when the temporary storage of thetelephone number is selected while the telephone number is displayed instep 201, and the controller 110 does not sense the selection of theattempt to originate a call and then attempts to originate the call tothe selected or input telephone number, the call to which the attempt tooriginate is to be made, in step 202, the controller 110 senses theselection of the temporary storage of the telephone number, in step 205,and if the selection of the temporary storage of the telephone number issensed, the method proceeds to step 206. In step 206, the controller 110stores the telephone number in the temporary list of the memory 130, asa temporary telephone number, and the method then ends. On the otherhand, if in step 206, the controller 110 does not sense the selection ofthe temporary storage of the telephone number, the controller 110performs a different or relevant function of the terminal.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are a single flowchart showing a process fordisplaying and editing telephone numbers stored in the temporary list inthe terminal according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 304A to FIG. 4D are views illustrating an operation ofdisplaying and editing a telephone number stored in the temporary listin the terminal according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIGS. 4A to 4Dtogether with reference to FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, when viewing of the latest records,which may display all call records, is selected in the terminal, thecontroller 110 senses the selection of viewing of the latest records instep 301, and proceeds to step 302, in which the display unit 160displays all the call records. Otherwise, in step 301, if a selection isnot sensed, the controller 110 performs a different or relevant functionof the terminal. In step 302, when the controller 110 controls thedisplay unit 160 to display the latest records, the display unit 160displays a telephone number among the latest records, to which a callhas been originated and to which the call has not been connected, whichis separately stored in the temporary list, in such a manner as todistinguish the telephone number from other telephone numbers, forexample, by using a particular icon.

FIG. 4A illustrates a list of the latest records, which may be displayedby activating or selecting a LATEST RECORDS icon or button displayed onthe screen, or by other input commands in a manner known in the art.While the latest records are displayed as shown in the FIG. 4A,telephone numbers 401 and 402, to each of which a call has beenoriginated and at each of which the call has not been connected, aredisplayed by using a particular icon A, and thereby are displayed insuch a manner as to distinguish the telephone numbers 401 and 402 fromother telephone numbers. For example, the particular icon A mayrepresent an outgoing call bouncing off of a telephone to represent acall has been originated but the call has not been connected. Theparticular icon A is different from other call status icons, such as arightward arrow representing an originated and connected call, aleftward arrow representing an incoming and connected call, and aningoing call bouncing off of a telephone to represent a missed call,that is, an incoming call that had not connected. Accordingly, throughthe display of the particular icon A, a user may easily distinguish thetelephone numbers 401 and 402, to each of which the call has beenoriginated and at each of which the call has not been connected, fromother telephone numbers.

When viewing of a temporary list is selected while the latest recordsare displayed, the controller 110 senses the selection of viewing of atemporary list, in step 303, and proceeds to step 304. Otherwise, instep 303, if a selection is not sensed, the controller 110 performs adifferent or relevant function of the terminal. In step 304, thecontroller 110 displays the telephone number to which the call has beenoriginated and to which the call has not been connected, and a temporarytelephone number, which are stored in the temporary list, in such amanner as to distinguish the call-originated telephone number from thetemporary telephone number.

FIG. 4B illustrates the temporary list, which may be displayed byactivating or selecting a TEMPORARY LIST icon or button displayed on thescreen, or by other input commands in a manner known in the art. Whilethe temporary list is displayed by the display unit 160 as shown in theFIG. 4B, telephone numbers 410 and 413, to each of which a call has beenoriginated and at each of which the call has not been connected, aredisplayed by using the particular icon A, and temporary telephonenumbers 411 and 412 are displayed by using another particular icon B,for example, a question mark. Accordingly, two icons may be displayedsubstantially adjacent to their respective telephone numbers in such amanner as to distinguish between the two telephone number types. Inaddition, the number of times of failure in a call connection to eachtelephone number is entered and displayed for each of the telephonenumbers 410 and 413, to each of which the call has been originated andat each of which the call has not been connected, and for each of thetemporary telephone numbers 411 and 412, which are displayed in thetemporary list as shown in the FIG. 4B. For example, the “2”substantially adjacent the telephone number 410 represents two failedcall connections for telephone number 410, while the “1” substantiallyadjacent to each of the telephone numbers 411-413 represents one failedcall connection to each of telephone numbers 411-413. The telephonenumbers 410-413 of the temporary list may be displayed in such a manneras to be arranged in descending order of the large number of times offailure in a call connection, but other orders for displaying thetelephone numbers 410-413 may also be implemented.

Accordingly, through the display of the particular icon A, the user mayeasily distinguish the telephone numbers 401 and 402, to each of whichthe call has been originated and at each of which the call has not beenconnected, from other telephone numbers.

Referring back to step 304, after display of the telephone numbers, whenthe editing of a selected particular telephone number is selected whilethe temporary list is displayed, the controller 110 senses the selectionof the editing of the selected particular telephone number, in step 305,and controls the display unit 160 to display types of editing in steps306-312 in FIG. 3B. Otherwise, in step 305, if a selection is notsensed, the controller 110 performs a different or relevant function ofthe terminal.

Referring to FIG. 3B, when a memo is selected from among the types ofediting, the controller 110 senses the selection of the memo, in step306, and controls the display unit 160 to display a memo window. Whencontents are first entered into the memo window and then a storage isselected, the controller 110 proceeds to step 308, in which thecontroller 110 adds the memo to the particular telephone number andstores the memo and the association of the memo with the particulartelephone number in the memory 130. The method then ends.

Otherwise, referring back to step 306, if the controller 110 does notsense a selection of a memo, when an alarm is selected from among thetypes of editing, the controller 110 senses the selection of the alarm,in step 309, and causes the terminal to switch to an alarm mode. When aparticular alarm time point for reporting the origination of a call tothe particular telephone number is selected in the alarm mode, thecontroller 110 proceeds to step 310, in which the controller 110 sets analarm for the particular telephone number and stores the alarm and itsinformation, including the particular alarm time point, and theassociation of the alarm, with the particular telephone number in thememory 130. The method then ends.

Otherwise, referring back to step 309, if the controller 110 does notsense a selection of an alarm, when a schedule is selected from amongthe types of editing, the controller 110 senses the selection of theschedule, in step 311, and causes the terminal to switch to a schedulemode. When a particular date and a particular time point are selectedfrom a schedule in the schedule mode in order to report the originationof a call to the particular telephone number at the particular timepoint on the particular date, the controller 110 proceeds to step 312,in which the controller 110 sets the schedule for the particulartelephone number and stores the schedule and its information, includingthe particular data and the particular time point, and the associationof the schedule, with the particular telephone number in the memory 130.The method then ends. Otherwise, referring back to step 311, if aselection is not sensed, the controller 110 performs a different orrelevant function of the terminal.

FIG. 4C shows an example of displaying the telephone numbers in thetemporary list, for each of which a memo, an alarm or a schedule is setthrough the editing operation, and described in connection with FIG. 3B.

As shown in the FIG. 4C, the memo of “making a call” and an alarm areset for the particular telephone number 410, and the memo of “autorepair man” and an alarm are set for the particular telephone number411, with alarm icons represented by a miniature clock picture displayedsubstantially adjacent to the respective particular telephone number410, 411, indicating the set alarms for the telephone numbers 410, 411.In addition, the memo of “auto repair shop” is set for the particulartelephone number 412, and the memo of “phone number of person in chargeof sales” and a schedule are set for particular telephone number 413,with a schedule icon represented by a miniature calendar is displayedsubstantially adjacent to the particular telephone number 413.

When memo contents are selected from the temporary list as shown in FIG.4C, for example, by tapping or selecting the text of the memo on thescreen for a selected telephone number, a memo window which shows thememo contents may be displayed in a memo editing window or screen by thedisplay unit 160, and the memo contents in the memo window may bechanged, in a manner known in the art.

When an alarm icon is selected from the temporary list as shown in FIG.4C, for example, by tapping or selecting the alarm icon on the screenfor a selected telephone number, the terminal may switch to an alarmmode and may display a set alarm, and the alarm setting may be changedusing an alarm editing window or screen, in a manner known in the art.When a schedule icon is selected from the temporary list, as shown inthe FIG. 4C, for example, by tapping or selecting schedule icon on thescreen for a selected telephone number, the terminal may switch to aschedule mode and may display the particular telephone number on a setparticular date, and a date or a time point for which a schedule is setmay be changed in a schedule editing window or screen by the displayunit 160 in a manner known in the art.

Otherwise, in response to user inputs to enter the schedule mode withoutaccessing the telephone list in FIG. 4C, when the terminal switches tothe schedule mode, if there exists a particular telephone number forwhich a schedule is set on a particular date among telephone numbers ofthe temporary list, as shown in FIG. 4D, the controller 110 may controlthe display unit 160 to display a calendar as well as the particulartelephone number, for which the schedule is set among telephone numbersof the temporary list, on the particular date. When the particular dateis selected, the controller 110 may control the display unit 160 todisplay information on the particular telephone number at a lower end420 of a screen of the display unit 160. Alternatively, the displayinformation may be positioned at any location on the screen in FIG. 4D.

When an icon A, which reports or indicates that a call was originatedand does not terminate, is selected by tapping or other user inputs onthe icon A in FIG. 4D while the information on the particular telephonenumber is displayed at the lower end 420 of the screen of the displayunit 160, the controller 110 may control the display unit 160 displaythe temporary list as shown in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a single flowchart showing an operation processfor originating a call to a telephone number stored in the temporarylist in the terminal according to the exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B together withreference to FIGS. 1-2.

Referring to FIG. 2, when a telephone number, to which the call has beenoriginated and to which the call has not been connected, is generated insteps 201-206 as shown in FIG. 2, the method for generating thetemporary list and storing telephone numbers therein ends. However, theterminal also performs additional operations for originating a call to atelephone number stored in the temporary list, as shown in FIGS. 5A-5B,such that the controller 110 proceeds to step 501, in which thecontroller 110 controls the display unit 160 to display non-connectingcall origination details in the standby mode of the terminal.

The non-connecting call origination details may be displayed on a lockscreen, a window, or in a notification bar of the display unit 160 inthe standby mode in step 501, and the controller 110 may control thedisplay unit 160 to display the number of times of the origination ofthe call which has not been connected, together with an icon whichreports that a call is originated and does not terminate, as in FIGS.4A-4B.

After step 501, when the non-connecting call origination details areselected, the controller 110 senses the selection of the non-connectingcall origination details, in step 502, and proceeds to step 503, inwhich the display unit 160 displays the particular telephone number,matched to the origination of the call which has not been connected, inthe temporary list. Referring back to step 502, if the selection is notsensed, the controller 110 performs a different or relevant function ofthe terminal.

After step 503, when an attempt to originate a call to the particulartelephone number is selected, the controller 110 senses the selection ofthe attempt to originate the call, in step 504, and attempts tooriginate the call to the particular telephone number, and proceeds tostep 505. Otherwise, in step 504, if a call origination attempt is notsensed, the controller 110 performs a different or relevant function ofthe terminal. In step 505, when the origination of the call is completedin a state where the call is not connected to the particular telephonenumber, the controller 110 senses the completion of the origination ofthe call, in step 505, and proceeds to step 506. Otherwise, if thecontroller 110 does not sense the completion in step 505, the methodproceeds to step 511, described herein. Referring back to step 506, thecontroller 110 identifies and stores or lists the number of times offailure in a call connection to the particular telephone number in thetemporary list.

When the number of times of failure in the call connection to theparticular telephone number is equal to or less than a predeterminedreference number of times, the controller 110 senses, in step 507, thatthe number of times of failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number is equal to or less than the predetermined referencenumber of times, and proceeds to step 510. In step 510, the controller110 controls the display unit 160 to display the number of times offailure in a call connection to the particular telephone number in thetemporary list and the controller 110 also updates a value stored in thememory 130 representing the number of times of failure. The method ofFIG. 5A then ends.

Referring back to step 507, when the number of times of failure in thecall connection to the particular telephone number is greater than thepredetermined reference number of times, the controller 110 senses, instep 507, that the number of times of failure in the call connection tothe particular telephone number is greater than the predeterminedreference number of times, and proceeds to step 508, in which thecontroller 110 causes the terminal to automatically switch to a messagemode. Then, the controller 110 proceeds to step 509, in which thecontroller 110 controls the terminal to transmit a message havingcontents entered in the message mode to the particular telephone number.The method of FIG. 5A then ends.

Alternatively, when automatic message transmission is set for theterminal, if the number of times of failure in the call connection tothe particular telephone number is greater than the predeterminedreference number of times sensed in step 507, the controller 110 maytransmit a message including previously-set contents to the particulartelephone number.

Referring back to step 505, when an attempt to originate a call to theparticular telephone number displayed in step 503 is made and the callis not connected to the particular telephone number, the controller 110senses the lack of completion of the origination of the call, in step505, and the method proceeds to step 511 in FIG. 5B. If the call isconnected to the particular telephone number, the controller 110 senses,in step 511, that the call is connected to the particular telephonenumber, and proceeds to step 512, in which the controller 110 controlsthe terminal which performs the call. On the other hand, if in step 511,the controller 110 does not sense a call connection, the controller 110performs a different or relevant function of the terminal.

Referring back to step 512, after the call is completed, the controller110 senses the completion of the call, in step 513. If the controller110 does not sense completion, the method loops back to step 513 andrepeatedly checks whether the call was completed. However, in step 513,if the controller 110 senses completion, the method proceeds to step514, and determines whether the particular telephone number, to whichthe call has been connected, is a telephone number registered in atelephone directory.

When the particular telephone number is a telephone number registered inthe telephone directory, the controller 110 senses, in step 514, thatthe particular telephone number is a telephone number registered in thetelephone directory, and proceeds to step 515. In step 515, thecontroller 110 deletes the particular telephone number from thetemporary list, and the method ends.

However, referring back to step 514, when the particular telephonenumber is not a telephone number registered in the telephone directory,the controller 110 controls the display unit 160 to display a selectionmenu including various options, such as storing the telephone number ina telephone directory. The controller 110 then senses for a selection ofstorage of the telephone number in the telephone directory in step 516.When the storage of a telephone directory and/or a particular telephonenumber is selected from the selection menu, the controller 110 sensesthe selection in step 516, and the controller 110 proceeds to step 517,in which the controller 110 controls the memory 130 to store theparticular telephone number in the telephone directory and/or to storean updated telephone directory including the particular telephonenumber, and the method then ends. Referring back to step 516, if storageof the telephone directory or particular telephone number is not sensed,the method proceeds to step 518 to sense whether the deletion of aparticular telephone number from a temporary list is selected from theselection menu. If the controller 110 senses the selection of thedeletion of the particular telephone number, in step 518, the methodproceeds to step 519, in which the controller 110 deletes the particulartelephone number from the temporary list and updates the temporary liststored in the memory 130, and the method then ends. However, in step518, if the controller 110 does not sense the selection of deletion, thecontroller 110 controls the display unit 160 to display a message orother information indicating success of a call connection to theparticular telephone number in the temporary list in step 520, and themethod then ends.

As shown in FIG. 5B, an operation of registering or deleting a telephonenumber from the telephone directory is performed when the call isconnected to the telephone number stored in the temporary list. However,in an alternative embodiment, the telephone numbers, to each of whichthe call has been connected, may not be deleted from the temporary list,but the success of the call connection to each of the telephone numbersmay be displayed in the temporary list by using an icon or the like.Accordingly, the user may delete a telephone number, to which the callhas been successfully connected, from the temporary list, or mayregister the telephone number in the telephone directory.

The apparatus and the method for managing a telephone number in theterminal according to the present invention may be implemented by usinga computer-readable code in a computer-readable recording medium. Thecomputer-readable recording mediums include all types of recordingdevices which may be read by a computer system and on which data arestored. Examples of the recording mediums include a Read Only Memory(ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), an optical disc, a magnetic tape, afloppy disk, a hard disc, a non-volatile memory, etc., and may alsoinclude data implemented in the form of carrier wave (e.g. transmissionthrough the Internet). In addition, the computer-readable recordingmediums are distributed in a computer system connected to a network, sothat computer-readable codes may be stored in the distributed storagemediums and be executed in a distributed scheme.

The above-described apparatus and methods according to the presentinvention can be implemented in hardware or firmware, or as software orcomputer code, or combinations thereof. In addition, the software orcomputer code can also be stored in a non-transitory recording mediumsuch as a CD ROM, a RAM, a ROM whether erasable or rewritable or not, afloppy disk, CDs, DVDs, memory chips, a hard disk, a magnetic storagemedia, an optical recording media, or a magneto-optical disk or computercode downloaded over a network originally stored on a remote recordingmedium, a computer readable recording medium, or a non-transitorymachine readable medium and to be stored on a local recording medium, sothat the methods described herein can be rendered in such software,computer code, software modules, software objects, instructions,applications, applets, apps, etc. that is stored on the recording mediumusing a general purpose computer, a digital computer, or a specialprocessor or in programmable or dedicated hardware, such as an ASIC orFPGA. As would be understood in the art, the computer, the processor,microprocessor controller or the programmable hardware include volatileand/or non-volatile storage and memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM,Flash, etc. that may store or receive software or computer code thatwhen accessed and executed by the computer, processor or hardwareimplement the processing methods described herein. In addition, it wouldbe recognized that when a general purpose computer accesses code forimplementing the processing shown herein, the execution of the codetransforms the general purpose computer into a special purpose computerfor executing the processing shown herein. In addition, the program maybe electronically transferred through any medium such as communicationsignals transmitted by wire/wireless connections, and their equivalents.The programs and computer readable recording medium can also bedistributed in network-coupled computer systems so that the computerreadable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

The present invention provides the apparatus and the method for managinga telephone number in the terminal, and has an effect in that atelephone number, to which a call has been originated and has not beenconnected, can be separately displayed in such a manner as todistinguish the telephone number from other telephone numbers and anattempt to originate a call to the telephone number can be convenientlymade. In addition, the present invention has an effect in that atelephone number, which is not desired to be stored in a telephonedirectory, can be temporarily stored and then the terminal canconveniently attempt to originate a call to the telephone number whilethe terminal does not operate in an application executed in associationwith the telephone directory.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theexemplary embodiments as shown in the accompanying drawings, theexemplary embodiments are only illustrative embodiments. It will beunderstood by those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field ofthe present invention that various modifications and other equivalentembodiments can be made from these exemplary embodiments. Therefore, thereal technical protection scope of the present invention should bedefined by the technical idea of the attached claims

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for managing a telephone number in aterminal, the apparatus comprising: a memory including a temporary listwhich stores a non-connecting telephone number, a call to which anattempt to originate has been made and to which the call has failed tobe connected; and a controller for performing a control operation so asto store the non-connecting telephone number in the temporary list, whenan attempt to originate a call to a particular telephone number is madeand the call fails to be connected to the particular telephone number,thereby identifying the particular telephone number as thenon-connecting telephone number.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein the controller performs a control operation so as to display thenon-connecting telephone number, the call to which the attempt tooriginate has been made and to which the call has failed to beconnected, with the non-connecting telephone number displayed in alatest record list in such a manner as to distinguish the non-connectingtelephone number from other telephone numbers.
 3. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein, when performing an editing procedure forediting the particular telephone number in the temporary list isselected, the controller performs a control operation so as to performat least one of: adding a memo into which information on the particulartelephone number is entered; setting an alarm for reporting originationof a call to the particular telephone number at a particular time point;and setting a schedule for reporting origination of a call to theparticular telephone number at a particular time point on a particulardate.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controllerperforms a control operation so as to display non-connecting callorigination details of the non-connecting telephone number in a standbymode of the terminal, performs a control operation so as to display theparticular telephone number matched to the non-connecting callorigination details in the temporary list when the non-connecting callorigination details are selected, and performs a control operation so asto display the number of times of failure in a call connection to theparticular telephone number in the temporary list in such a manner as toupdate the number of times of the failure in the call connection to theparticular telephone number, when an attempt to originate the call tothe particular telephone number is made and the call fails to beconnected to the particular telephone number.
 5. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 4, wherein the non-connecting call origination detailsmay be displayed in a notification bar or on a lock screen in thestandby mode.
 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein, when thecall fails to be connected to the particular telephone number, if thenumber of times of the failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number is greater than a predetermined reference number oftimes, the terminal automatically switches to a message mode.
 7. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein, when the call fails to beconnected to the particular telephone number, if the number of times ofthe failure in the call connection to the particular telephone number isgreater than a predetermined reference number of times, a messageincluding previously-set contents is automatically transmitted to theparticular telephone number.
 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4,wherein, when the attempt to originate the call to the particulartelephone number is made and the call is successfully connected to theparticular telephone number, if the particular telephone number is atelephone number registered in a telephone directory, the controllerperforms a control operation so as to delete the particular telephonenumber from the temporary list.
 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8,wherein the controller performs a control operation so as to display aselection menu if the particular telephone number is not a telephonenumber registered in the telephone directory when the attempt tooriginate the call to the particular telephone number is made and thecall is successfully connected to the particular telephone number,performs a control operation so as to store the particular telephonenumber in the telephone directory when storage of the telephonedirectory is selected from the selection menu, and performs a controloperation so as to delete the particular telephone number from thetemporary list when a deletion is selected from the selection menu. 10.The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller performs acontrol operation so as to display a particular telephone number, forwhich a schedule is set on a particular date among telephone numbers ofthe temporary list, in a schedule mode, and performs a control operationso as to display information on the particular telephone number when theparticular date is selected.
 11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein the controller performs a control operation so as to store theparticular telephone number in the temporary list as a temporarytelephone number, when temporary storage of the particular telephonenumber is selected.
 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, whereinthe controller performs a control operation so as to store thenon-connecting telephone number and the temporary telephone number insuch a manner as to distinguish the non-connecting telephone number fromthe temporary telephone number, when the temporary telephone number andthe non-connecting telephone number are stored in the temporary list.13. A method for managing a telephone number in a terminal, the methodcomprising: attempting to originate a call to a particular telephonenumber; and storing the particular telephone number, to which the callfails to be connected, in a temporary list as a non-connecting telephonenumber, when the attempt to originate the call to the particulartelephone number has been made and the call fails to be connected to theparticular telephone number.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 13,further comprising displaying the non-connecting telephone number, towhich the call has been originated and has failed to be connected, in alatest record list in such a manner as to distinguish the non-connectingtelephone number from other telephone numbers, when viewing of latestrecords is selected.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 13, furthercomprising: displaying types of editing, when the editing of theparticular telephone number in the temporary list is selected; adding amemo, into which information on the particular telephone number isentered, when a memo is selected from among the types of the editing;setting an alarm for reporting origination of a call to the particulartelephone number at a particular time point, when an alarm is selectedfrom among the types of the editing; and setting a schedule forreporting origination of a call to the particular telephone number at aparticular time point on a particular date, when a schedule is selectedfrom among the types of the editing.
 16. The method as claimed in claim13, further comprising: displaying non-connecting call originationdetails of the non-connecting telephone number in a standby mode of theterminal; displaying the particular telephone number matched to thenon-connecting call origination details in the temporary list, when thenon-connecting call origination details are selected; and displaying thenumber of times of failure in a call connection to the particulartelephone number in the temporary list in such a manner as to update thenumber of times of the failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number, when an attempt to originate the call to theparticular telephone number is made and the call fails to be connectedto the particular telephone number.
 17. The method as claimed in claim16, wherein the non-connecting call origination details may be displayedin a notification bar or on a lock screen in the standby mode.
 18. Themethod as claimed in claim 16, further comprising: identifying thenumber of times of the failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number, when the call fails to be connected to the particulartelephone number; and automatically switching to a message mode when thenumber of times of the failure in the call connection to the particulartelephone number is greater than a predetermined reference number oftimes.
 19. The method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:identifying the number of times of the failure in the call connection tothe particular telephone number, when the call fails to be connected tothe particular telephone number; and automatically transmitting amessage including previously-set contents to the particular telephonenumber, when the number of times of the failure in the call connectionto the particular telephone number is greater than a predeterminedreference number of times.
 20. The method as claimed in claim 16,further comprising: identifying whether the particular telephone numberis a telephone number registered in a telephone directory, when theattempt to originate the call to the particular telephone number is madeand the call is successfully connected to the particular telephonenumber; and deleting the particular telephone number from the temporarylist, when the particular telephone number is the telephone numberregistered in the telephone directory.
 21. The method as claimed inclaim 20, further comprising: displaying a selection menu when theparticular telephone number is not the telephone number registered inthe telephone directory; storing the particular telephone number in thetelephone directory when storage of the telephone directory is selectedfrom the selection menu; and deleting the particular telephone numberfrom the temporary list when a deletion is selected from the selectionmenu.
 22. The method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising:displaying a particular telephone number, for which a schedule is setamong telephone numbers of the temporary list, on the particular date ina schedule mode, when there exists the particular telephone number forwhich the schedule is set on the particular date among the telephonenumbers of the temporary list; and displaying information on theparticular telephone number when the particular date is selected. 23.The method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising storing theparticular telephone number in the temporary list as a temporarytelephone number, when the temporary storage of the particular telephonenumber is selected.
 24. The method as claimed in claim 23, wherein thenon-connecting telephone number and the temporary telephone number arestored in such a manner as to distinguish the non-connecting telephonenumber from the temporary telephone number, when the temporary telephonenumber and the non-connecting telephone number are stored in thetemporary list.